The abrupt transition to online learning was challenging for both Mrs. Britt and her students. She described efforts to develop virtually accessible materials and deliver them in a way that would keep students engaged, while at the same time promoting academic integrity.<\/p>\n
Getting assignments done, getting quizzes, getting tests, we had to revamp everything. . . . Kids aren\u2019t bad, but even good kids, if you are not careful and don\u2019t do everything you can to try to dissuade them, they\u2019ll cheat. [Teaching] online is almost impossible. . . . Because you could insist, \u201cOkay, I need to see your face,\u201d but keeping up with who is paying attention, who you can see their faces, things like that, is difficult. . . . It\u2019s so much more difficult to get difficult complex concepts across a screen.<\/em><\/p>\n As part of her online science instruction, Ms. Britt took opportunities to address COVID-related misinformation that was spreading through her community.<\/p>\n I knew that they were getting a lot of misinformation from all around them. And so as much as I could, I tried to relay correct information. I mean, not only that it\u2019s going on around them, but it\u2019s information they need to have.<\/em><\/p>\n Because vaccine hesitancy was prevalent in the community, Ms. Britt also used her science instruction to provide students with accurate information about mRNA vaccines and their efficacy. She explained that her aim was to encourage students to get vaccinated and reduce their fear.<\/p>\n My seniors, they\u2019re going to be 18, they can get the shot if they want. I think some of them did against their parents\u2019 wishes because they were like, \u201cI think you know more about it than they do.\u201d For instance, one of the kids told me, \u201cWell, my parents don\u2019t like the fact that the vaccine, they came up with it so fast.\u201d And I said, \u201cWhat you got to realize is that basically every virology lab in the world, and anyone who has anything possibly to add, has dropped everything across the planet. Tens of thousands of hours were spent in a very short period of time. We had a crisis of that magnitude, the world kind of pulled together the scientific community to get things done.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n As they transitioned into the 2020\u201321 school year, Ms. Britt\u2019s school chose to adopt a hybrid teaching model where students had the option to attend school in person or virtually. In this arrangement, Ms. Britt was tasked with teaching both groups of students simultaneously, an arrangement that was less than ideal.<\/p>\n For the kids who were in the classroom, it was pretty much the same, except we were all masked and distancing from each other. And because of the masking, I probably went a little slower just to make sure that everybody knew what I was talking about. The kids online, like I said, trying to make sure they were paying attention. It was a lot of burden on all of us.<\/em><\/p>\n In addition to navigating the hybrid teaching model, Ms. Britt was still responsible for covering her biology curriculum. However, she still found time to weave COVID-related topics into her course units.<\/p>\n I would work COVID in as part of the topic. For instance, it\u2019s an mRNA vaccine. We talked about that when we talked about transcription and translation during genetics. But I didn\u2019t just derail. I mean, I got to have the kids prepared in the same way they were prepared before COVID at the end of each year. And so while I worked it in as much as I could, it didn\u2019t change the overall sequence of topics that I taught or what I taught in each of them.<\/em><\/p>\n Ms. Britt also explained that she viewed COVID instruction as essential for addressing misinformation that was so prevalent at the time. However, she also received a lot of student push back.<\/p>\n I\u2019d have kids say, \u201cWell, I\u2019ve heard this, and I\u2019ve heard this, and then that.\u201d You have to make sure to tell them, \u201cNo, that\u2019s not how it works.\u201d. . . There was addressing the misinformation, dealing with it, and sometimes having to say, \u201cHere\u2019s the information, but you have the right to make up your own mind about your own opinions.\u201d Sometimes, just having to move on because that kid, for whatever reason, he doesn\u2019t believe you, the pushback.<\/em><\/p>\n The 2021\u201322 school year brought all students back on campus for in-person instruction. Ms. Britt worked hard to give her students a quality education, despite the added time and stress of trying to follow COVID restrictions.<\/p>\n I was making sure that I gave them the same quality education that I\u2019ve given students every year since I\u2019ve taught. . . . Kids need me to get them to the end.\u00a0Dealing with the stress of extra duties, of making sure that the schedule we\u2019re on is actually going to work while we are under COVID restrictions. I mean, it was just so incredibly stressful. . . . You just had to stay late and make sure that what you had the next day was going to fit with COVID restrictions.<\/em><\/p>\n Reflecting on her instruction throughout the pandemic, Ms. Britt hopes that she has been able to provide accurate scientific information, both to her students and others in her\u00a0community.<\/p>\n I think that there were a lot of people who came to me\u2014teachers, students, parents, to talk about [COVID] because . . . I\u2019m going to tell you the truth as far as I know it. . . . As a science teacher, specifically, I think that was a hat that we all had to don, whether we liked it or not. Because particularly for kids, we are their first contact for accurate information about science.<\/em><\/p>\n\n![\"Elementary\"](\"https:\/\/www.horizon-research.com\/RAPID\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/giovanni-gagliardi-fvT3t9iOaJI-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" "\\"Elementary\\"")
\t <\/a>\n\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n \n \t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t Elementary\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t \n\t \t<\/div>\n\t\n \t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
![\"Middle\"](\"https:\/\/www.horizon-research.com\/RAPID\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/getty-images-I-451dMhv5U-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" "\\"Middle\\"")
\t <\/a>\n\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n \n \t
![\"High](\"https:\/\/www.horizon-research.com\/RAPID\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/linkedin-sales-solutions-NpyF7rjqmq4-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" "\\"High")
\t <\/a>\n\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n \n \t